Winter is a good time to get out and inspect your pond, especially if you are noticing lower water levels. I would recommend monitoring your pond regularly.
With the drought in 2024, you may still see lower water levels in your pond well into 2025. Don’t fret. With the spring showers should be right around the corner, hopefully, springs will recharge and ponds will begin to refill.
Keeping your pond dam well-maintained and in good condition allows for easier inspection and maintenance.
Below are some tips for maintaining a good strong pond.
• Always establish, control and maintain proper grass vegetation on and around your pond dam and emergency spillway. If bare spots appear from any erosion, reseed them immediately.
• Keep the primary spillway clear of debris to eliminate it from clogging and causing overtopping to your pond.
• Keep the emergency spillway grass covered at all times and check it after significant rain events when it is used. Mow it at least three times per year to discourage woody species.
• Ensure that concrete is sound, not scaling or deteriorating and make sure it is not scoured.
• Inspect the drop structures, emergency spillways, embankments and berms. Replace deteriorating boards, channels, pipes, trash racks and any other components.
• Check for holes in the dam fill from animals such as groundhogs, muskrats and even beavers. These holes can greatly reduce the strength of the dam and cause the pond to leak. Muskrats and groundhogs can create tunnels long distances, creating an easy path for the water to seep through, further saturating the pond dam fill material.
• Do not allow any woody vegetation to become established on the dam as the roots can channel throughout it and create seepage and leaks.
• Look for excessive settlement and seepage, especially on the downstream toe of the dam, and any evidence of piping around any outlet pipes. This is a quick way for pond failure to happen.
It is very important to always inspect and properly maintain everything in and around your pond.
Don’t ever forget to consider that there could be a threat to neighbors and land downstream from you that you could be responsible for if something were to take place.
